The T.O. Case, etc.

As a rabid Eagles fan, I felt I had to address this. For those of you not familiar with the situation, Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens is currently holding out for a new contract with the team. The problem with this is that the Eagles, since head coach/general manager Andy Reid has been with the team, do not restructure contracts. For anyone.

So here we are. T.O. is holding out, and the Eagles won't give him a new contract. The only problem I see here is with Owens. This is not coming from me as a fan, saying, "Why does this guy need more money? He's a millionaire and gets paid to do something fun!" (although I certainly do think that). No, this is purely from a business standpoint. T.O. is only hurting himself. There've been rumblings that he's willing to sit out the entire season if he doesn't get a new contract. If he does so, what does he gain? He signed a 7-year, $49 million contract last year. I will guarantee you right now that there is no way the Eagles offer him a new contract. None. In Philly, you play Andy's way, or you don't play. It's that simple. (This is not a bad thing, by the way. People that play for the Eagles love it. There are players who have left via free agency for more money, then come back after a year for less money--just to play for Andy Reid and the Eagles.)

So let's say he sits out the season. The Eagles play without him and the season's over. Then what? They're going to suddenly realize that they need him and come crawling back? No way. So either he comes back to the team, where he's probably damaged his reputation irreparably among his teammates, or he continues to hold out, or he goes somewhere else. By the way, if he does hold out, the Eagles don't have to pay him. So he loses a year of playing time and a year's salary. That's the way to build up your value. (And if you need money to "feed your family", you can't afford to sit out a year. I hate when athletes say stupid things like that, but that's a topic for another day.) If he tries to go somewhere else, does he think that another team is going to pay him more than the Eagles are paying him now, after sitting out a year and getting into a contract dispute one year after signing the contract? Any team would be insane to do that, and no team would. He'd get signed, sure, but he'd be losing money, which would defeat the original purpose of sitting out. If you're trying to make a point, that's an expensive point to make. So I can't begin to imagine what's going through his head.

I'm not trying to rip T.O. here. He's a great player, and I loved watching him play last year. All this aside, he seems like a genuinely nice guy. I just don't understand the logic. Of course, some credit has to go to his new agent, Drew Rosenhaus. That guy's a pimple on the butt of the NFL if there ever was one. He encourages clients to sit out so that he can play hardball with the teams. Sitting out does no one any good at all.